Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to seismic prospecting and in particular to methods and apparatus for controlling seismic information system control.
Background Information
In the oil and gas exploration industry, geophysical tools and techniques are commonly employed in order to identify a subterranean structure having potential hydrocarbon deposits and/or to monitor known subterranean reservoirs. Many of these techniques and tools utilize energy in the form of seismic waves to determine subterranean properties, and techniques utilizing seismic waves are often commonly referred to as seismic exploration. Seismic exploration is used in many cases to generate images of subsurface structures by recording energy in the form of vibrations after the energy has been imparted into the earth and has reflected or refracted from geologic formations.
In seismic exploration, seismic waves travel through the ground and reflect off rocks in the subsurface. Boundaries between different rocks often reflect seismic waves, and information relating to these waves is collected and processed to generate a representation or “pictures” of the subsurface. Any number of exploration systems may be used to gather the desired information for processing. Dynamite explosions, vibrator trucks, air guns or the like may be used to create the seismic waves, and sensors such as velocity geophones, accelerometers and/or hydrophones may be laid out in lines, or towed in the case of hydrophones, for measuring how long it takes the waves to leave the seismic source, reflect off a rock boundary, and return to the sensors used.
Seismic systems may be land deployed, marine towed systems or may be installed on the bed at the bottom of a body of water. Although not necessarily relegated to ocean or sea bodies, marine systems disposed under water are often called sea bottom or ocean bottom systems (“OBS”).